Developing Effective Teams

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Tutorial

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the Article

Read the article and answer the questions:

The computer mouse celebrated its 40th anniversary on December the 8th, 2008. It was in 1968 that computer visionary Douglas Engelbart showed off his new invention to an audience of 1,000 at a technology conference in California. They witnessed the very first public demonstration of the personal computer. Engelbart’s revolutionary ‘pointing device’ was made

of wood and had two wheels built into the bottom. It was originally designed to highlight text on a written document. Engelbart wowed onlookers by demonstrating how text could be selected, copied and pasted. Engelbart said he always wondered why the term ‘mouse’ never changed into a more technical word after it became a commercial success.

Today computer mice or mouses (both are widely accepted as plurals) are absolutely everywhere. The only real changes to their technology in the past four decades are the transition to laser mice, the right-click button, and the scroll wheel. It looks like mice are here to stay, despite new innovations such as touch screens. Experts say the mouse is still difficult to beat in terms of ease of use and functionality.

On the mouse’s 40th birthday, computer-device maker Logitech announced it had produced its one-billionth mouse. The Swiss company churns out nearly 8 million mice a month. The pioneer, Douglas Engelbart, has never received a penny for his world-changing invention. His patent ran out before computer companies started mass-producing mice.

When was the computer mouse invented?
Who invented it?
What was the first mouse made of?
What was its function?
Which is grammatically correct - “many mice” or “many mouses”?
Has Engelbart made a fortune from his invention?

Gap Fill

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

wondered, celebrated, device, success, penny, beat, four decades,

mass, churns out, widely accepted

The computer mouse1) _______________ its 40th anniversary on December the 8th (2008). It was in 1968 that computer visionary Douglas Engelbart showed off his new invention to an audience of 1,000 at a technology conference in California. They witnessed the very first public demonstration of the personal computer. Engelbart’s revolutionary ‘pointing 2)_______________’ was made of wood and had two wheels built into the bottom. It was originally designed to highlight text on a written document. Engelbart wowed onlookers by demonstrating how text could be selected, copied and pasted. Engelbart said he always 3)_______________ why the term ‘mouse’ never changed into a more technical word after it became a commercial 4)__________.

Today computer mice or mouses (both are 5)___________________as plurals) are absolutely everywhere. The only real changes to their technology in the past 6)______________ are the transition to laser mice, the right-click button, and the scroll wheel. It looks like mice are here to stay, despite new innovations such as touch screens. Experts say the mouse is still difficult to 7) _______________ in terms of ease of use and functionality.

On the mouse’s 40th birthday, computer-device maker Logitech announced it had produced its one-billionth mouse. The Swiss company 8)__________________ nearly 8 million mice a month.

The pioneer, Douglas Engelbart, has never received a 9)_____________ for his world-changing invention. His patent ran out before computer companies started 10)_____________ -producing mice.